Reefer red tape is madness

Tuesday

May 20, 2014 at 6:00 AM

By Dianne Williamson

I've heard Worcester called lots of things, but "absolutely astonishing" has never been one of them.

Yet that's the assessment of Canna Care Docs, which opened last year at 51 Union St. and provides medical marijuana "recommendations," even though an actual dispensary is still just a glimmer in the eyes of waiting patients.

"Located in the absolutely astonishing city of Worcester, Massachusetts, Canna Care Docs pays homage to an area where culture shines above all," reads Canna Care's assessment of our community on its website.

Now, far be it from me to suggest these folks are sampling product or sucking up to potential customers; perhaps they're just easily impressed. But what I find "absolutely astonishing" is that Canna Care is dishing out certificates to folks who have nowhere to fill them, while the state dickers around with the dispensary review process and politicians continue to stonewall.

"I'm very frustrated," said Patricia Pellegrino of Auburn, who received a recommendation certificate from Canna Care in April. "I'm suffering. And I have nowhere to go."

The state's medicinal marijuana law took effect in January of 2013, and 20 applicants have received provisional licenses. Meanwhile, flaws in the application process prompted House Speaker Robert DeLeo to suggest the state Department of Public Health rescind its preliminary approval and start over. And even though voters overwhelmingly signaled their approval of medicinal marijuana, politicians such as Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said he's "dead set" against it. Others seek to tax it or zone the dispensaries into oblivion, while police cluck like paranoid chickens about potential spikes in violence.

Talk about reefer madness. But before we dismiss people who need medical marijuana as fakers, or before we lump them together as stoners or thugs, let's listen to Ms. Pellegrino.

She's a young-looking 73, a retiree and grandmother. For more than a half century she's suffered from irritable bowel syndrome, which she jokes is not the most "glamorous" of conditions. But it's real and it's debilitating, and rarely a day goes by that it doesn't affect her life. Symptoms include chronic abdominal pain, discomfort, bloating and loss of appetite.

"It's hard for me to go places," Ms. Pellegrino said Monday. "I never know what will happen. There's no joy in going anywhere."

She's tried everything — medication, hypnosis, acupuncture. Then she saw a TV show that mentioned the benefits of medical pot for IBS. Two of her doctors suggested she give it a try.

So she went to Canna Care and met with a doctor and a counselor who checked her lungs and her blood pressure. What they didn't check was any proof that she had IBS, she said (shame on you, Canna Care ... ), and she paid $236 for a medical marijuana recommendation. For now, it allows her to grow her own pot, which she has no intention of doing, or to carry it around, even though she can't legally buy any.

"I've never smoked a cigarette in my life and I've never taken a drug," Ms. Pellegrino said. "But there's something out there that I think can help me. It's just not available."

Monday, a spokesman for DPH said the approval process takes time. "DPH's focus is on striking the appropriate balance between ensuring patient access and public safety," said Dave Kibbe. When the system is operational, patients will register online for a $50 fee, he said. A spokeswoman for Canna Care said that the first dispensaries may open this fall, in Northampton and on Cape Cod.

Meanwhile, good people such as Ms. Pellegrino continue to wait.

"I hate to say that this is my last hope," she said. "But it sure feels like it."